Immortalized by death

[Jistic]

Re: Immortalized by death

He wasn't a great president? Ok well all i'll say is that the world would be totally different if he was never prez. Also I agree to an extent that the mystique would've faded a bit if he had lived but on the flip side we may have been able to see a modern dynasty as I think RFK and maybe even Ted Kennedy being in the White House. (I don't see Ted as a president but surely a VP or in the cabinet)

Ted's already been in plenty of cabinets.....

[Shaver]

Re: Immortalized by death

(Rimshot)

[ehh]

Re: Immortalized by death

Nowadays we like to tear people down at the same time we're building them up. No one is exempt.

I was thinking the same thing earlier and trying to find a way to elaborate on it.

With media coverage today there is no privacy for celebrities, so as a consumer and "normal" citizen we get to see nearly every facet of their life (I guess you could argue it's every facet now that sex tapes are popular). So at the same time while we are tearing them down we still put them on such a godly pedastle (that they get their own reality show which just covers their daily lives).

Back in the day, it seems like celebrities had much more private lives and there was still a mystery and a surreal aura about them. I mean, if there was media coverage back in the day like there was now I'd imagine that Babe Ruth would be almost as hated as Barry Bonds. Granted the Babe never cheated (as far as he knows) he was a raging alcoholic and a womanizer. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that back in the day celebrities hardly had their flaws exposed. They seemed to be perfect, invincible, flawless, etc. Because of that portrayal it seemed even more shocking when they died early. Now it's headline news every time Lindsay Lohan gets a DUI or sleeps with a new guy.

[Streets]

Re: Immortalized by death

In basketball, Kobe Bryant. In rap, Jay-Z.

[oakfan162]

Re: Immortalized by death

Ted's already been in plenty of cabinets.....

[EWRMETS]

Re: Immortalized by death

He wasn't a great president? Ok well all i'll say is that the world would be totally different if he was never prez. Also I agree to an extent that the mystique would've faded a bit if he had lived but on the flip side we may have been able to see a modern dynasty as I think RFK and maybe even Ted Kennedy being in the White House. (I don't see Ted as a president but surely a VP or in the cabinet)

If he had lived, he might be known as the president most associated with Vietnam. He was the one that got America involved in Vietnam but he wasn't around when things turned sour.

[SPTO]

Re: Immortalized by death

If he had lived, he might be known as the president most associated with Vietnam. He was the one that got America involved in Vietnam but he wasn't around when things turned sour.

True but i've read and heard many things that indicate that if things had gone sour he'd pull troops out rather then escalate the war a la LBJ. In fact one of the conspiracy theories have it that Kennedy was planning just that and that LBJ was tapped by the military industrial complex to take part in the assasination plot.

Well enough politics

BTW on the topic of the media destroying those that we build up. It's true, it seems to me that the media back in the day were more sensitive to celebrities and politicians' privacy then they are today. I mean can you imagine if the media had reported on Mickey Mantle's drinking problems and Kennedy's involvement with Marilyn Monroe and the mob?!

[JayBee74]

Re: Immortalized by death

John F. Kennedy despite only serving 2 years was and still is revered in this nation.

Actually much closer to three years (2 years, 10 months). I was only 7 at the time of his death, and I can tell you that the circumstances surrounding the president's early departure immortalized him for me, even at that young age. But my parents will tell you that there was never a politician with more charisma than him. His death cemented his legacy, but no telling where he would have gone had he lived.

[mgoblue]

Re: Immortalized by death

He wasn't a great president? Ok well all i'll say is that the world would be totally different if he was never prez. Also I agree to an extent that the mystique would've faded a bit if he had lived but on the flip side we may have been able to see a modern dynasty as I think RFK and maybe even Ted Kennedy being in the White House. (I don't see Ted as a president but surely a VP or in the cabinet)

I personally just think that it was more his charisma, the whole "Camelot" feeling, etc that makes people wax poetic about JFK, compared to what he actually did in office. I think that given more time than the 2+ years he had that the mystique would have faded like you said. JFK did some great things, and would always be remembered well, but being killed so young just basically annointed him a saint when he really wasn't.

I agree though, things would have been very different if both he and RFK lived.

[caseyd]

Re: Immortalized by death

David Beckham. Shoot, the guy seems like he has been immortalized in life and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe I don't watch enough soccer.